Long Wood Enclosure is an

enclosure Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

which may have been a

univallate A hillfort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late European Bronze Age and Iron Age. Some were used in the post- Roman period. The fortif ...

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

in the county of

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. The hill fort is approximately southwest of the village of

Dunster Dunster is a village that is home to Celtu and civil parish in Somerset, England, within the north-eastern boundary of Exmoor National Park. It lies on the Bristol Channel southeast of Minehead and northwest of Taunton. At the 2011 Census, ...

. It has been scheduled as an

ancient monument An ancient monument can refer to any early or historical manmade structure or architecture. Certain ancient monuments are of cultural importance for nations and become symbols of international recognition, including the Baalbek, ruins of Baalbek ...

. The enclosure is approximately in diameter and covers around . It is surrounded by a bank and ditches about wide and high. The original entrance will likely be a break in the bank opposite a causeway on the uphill southwesterly side. The hill fort has been damaged in recent years due to forestry plantation.

Background

Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC. The reason for their emergence in Britain and their purpose have been debated. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view since the 1960s has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Iron ore deposits were located in different places, such as the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze. As a result, trading patterns shifted, and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people. The archaeologist

Barry Cunliffe Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe (born 10 December 1939), usually known as Sir Barry Cunliffe, is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. Since 2007, he has been ...

believes that population increase still played a role and has said, " he fortsprovided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress f an increasing populationburst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when tensions, and undoubtedly some were attacked and destroyed; however, this was not the only or even the most significant factor in their construction."

References

{{reflist History of Somerset Hill forts in Somerset Iron Age sites in England Scheduled monuments in West Somerset Archaeological sites on Exmoor

Background

See also

References